New roles @ OPL: the past three months

To do, to do... A snapshot of my various lists.

Here are some highlights from my work life during the past few months.

1. Managing volunteers: together with two colleagues, we worked on improving branch reporting of volunteer hours (that's the short version of that story, trust me...) I also developed a standard response to volunteer inquiries, updated the volunteer page on our website and our corporate policies, and developed a template for tracking branch opportunities. Whew! In May alone (school wasn't even out yet) we received about 30 inquiries about volunteering, via phone calls, e-mails and paper application forms.
   
2. We acquired two tablet laptops for the Bookmobiles for the PSAs to provide information and reference assistance.
3. We visited five local schools, from Vars to Riverside South, to promote SRC and the Bookmobile. The trips included an Algonquin College LIT student, one of OPL’s summer students from U of T, and staff.
4. We launched Summer Reading Club on both buses - with bus decorations!
5. We updated our communication plan for stop modifications and cancellations: daily updates (as needed) are now appearing on the library website.
6. Both buses completed their annual maintenance, which involved some days off the road and some creative scheduling, so we could cover 21 of our 22 stops with one bus.
7. Bookmobile attended two special events: the Farley Mowat School MayFair and the Touch A Truck event.
8. We ordered two counters for the buses, to enable more accurate tracking of patrons visiting at each stop, for statistical purposes.
9. We also developed a spreadsheet for tracking weekly counts, to make it easier to report this information for OPL reports (available here - click on each month's agenda)
10. Readers’ advisory services on the bus received some extra promotion as we refreshed the read-alike bookmarks displayed on the bus.
11. Bookmobile received new, easy to understand, visual and bilingual Open/Closed signs for the buses.
12. We made some changes to Bookmobile collections: more DVDs, more room for teen collections, and display space for Express DVDs and museum passes.
13. All Bookmobile staff went the extra mile these past few months, filling in shifts as needed: at special events or due to staff absences/retirements. Dudes, no joke, people are retiring left, right and centre over here. It's getting kind of crazy.
    
14. I worked on lots of list of duties, procedures, and staff surveys.... I'll spare you the (boring) details.
    
15. I also clocked some time overseeing Homebound Services (luckily, their excellent supervisor keeps things running smoothly!).

Bit different than a branch monthly report, eh? I'm finding I'm mired in lots of admin work, but there is some stimulating stuff in there, too, for sure. And less interaction with the public partially balances out by more interaction with staff. Different, but both worthwhile, endeavors. More Bookmobile outreach is one of the next big things on my agenda.